Hope
by DarkPoisonousLove
Summary: Snow has a surprise for Emma but the tables turn and she's the one who's left shaken. Some mother/daughter fluff with a dash of angst for good measure. Set a few years after the end of season 6.


**A/N: This was inspired by the kids/parents week on tumblr but I had no drive whatsoever to edit it and that's why I'm posting it only now. That's my first K-rated fic which is a personal record because... did you see the username? Anyway, hope you'll like it. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

"Mom, where are we going?" Emma asked as they trudged through the forest, careful not to fall on the slippery terrain. It wasn't exactly take-a-walk-in-the-forest time. But Snow had shown up at her door twenty minutes ago and had asked her to go with her, telling her she had a surprise for her. She'd driven them to the woods and had told her to get out of the car as she'd taken her bow from the back seat. It was all very weird.

"You'll see." Snow smiled mysteriously at her without stopping even for a second.

Something in the whole situation just didn't add up. What did her mother need the bow for? Emma sighed but kept following her, wondering what she had in mind.

They walked for a bit longer before Snow stopped. She turned around to face Emma and took the bow off her shoulder. "I'm gonna teach you some archery," she said as she handed it to Emma.

Emma looked down to the bow and then back to her mother. "Mom, what's going on?" she asked, not making a move to take it.

"I just told you," Snow practically shoved it into her hands, avoiding eye contact. "Now, you take an arrow..." she reached to pull one out of the quiver on her back but Emma's words stopped her.

"No, I mean why do you want to teach me how to use the bow?" Something was up. She could sense it. She just didn't know what it was. Snow had never before indicated that she wanted to teach her. And to be frank, Emma wasn't certain she wanted to be taught. She had other combat skills and she definitely didn't have the time. Archery demanded a lot of practice. That was pretty much the only thing she knew about it.

Her mother's shoulders slumped and the cheerful facade crumbled. "You know how to swordfight like your father, Regina taught you magic, and you learned how to shoot a gun yourself." Snow looked her in the eyes. "I just wanted to teach you something too," her voice dropped significantly and Emma had the feeling she'd start crying any second now.

"Oh, mom," Emma put the bow on her shoulder, nearly hitting herself on the head with it, and caught her mother's hands, "you gave me something that has been invaluable to me ever since I can remember."

Snow looked at her confused but also in anticipation of her next words.

"My life wasn't easy," Emma saw the pain cross Snow's face, "but even at the hardest of times I kept fighting on," she continued before the hurt had time to settle in. "Because I hoped that eventually it would get better. And it did." She smiled, feeling tears in her eyes. "I found you." She looked down at their hands and squeezed gently. "But it never would've happened without the hope in my heart." You could have all the skills in the world but if you didn't have a strong backbone, you'd crumble at the slightest obstacle. Hope had always been her backbone. It had been the steel in her spine that kept her upright when the world tried to crush her. "And that hope comes from you," she looked at her mother and the tears she saw running down Snow's face made the ones in her eyes fall too.

"Emma," Snow whispered, her voice breaking. She pulled her closer and wrapped her in an embrace. An embrace that was worth all those years of fighting everyone that came into her life, trying to crush her spirit.

"Thanks, mom," Emma said in her shoulder before pulling away. "Now, please, take this thing from me before I poke my eye out." She was quick to hand the bow back to Snow.

"I guess I should've asked you first," Snow said as she placed it over her shoulder again, not sounding too terribly sorry and Emma suspected that had something to do with the moment they'd just had.

"Yeah, you should've." Emma chuckled as she reached to her face to wipe away what was left of the tears. "Let's go back now," she said as she looped her arm through her mother's. "Why did you feel the need to bring me all the way to here? We could've practiced in your backyard. Or in mine for that matter."

"I just wanted to make sure Neal wouldn't learn about this. He's been asking me and your father to teach him to use weapons for weeks now," Snow shook her head as if in disbelief.

"Why don't you teach him?"

"Emma!" Snow stopped, looking too shocked by the suggestion. "He's too little," she defended when Emma raised an eyebrow at her. "I'll... teach him. When he gets older."

Emma smiled at her mother's behavior though she couldn't help the sadness that rose in her. She had a guess what was going on in Snow's head. "You know, you could teach me how to talk to birds if you want," she offered because she too would like to learn something from her mom. They couldn't make up for all the things the Curse had taken from them but they could get back some moments.

"Really?" Snow beamed immediately.

"Yeah. I've always been curious how you do that." It wasn't a complete lie and the skill could be helpful. But what mattered most was that she'd get to learn something from her mother. And even if she couldn't learn how to talk to birds, she'd always have the hope in her genes.


End file.
